Must Be Fate
by EvaBeaver
Summary: Riku and Sora meet by an unfortunate accident and soon they're glad it all happened. Was it fate that brought them together? RIKUxSORA Better than it sounds people!
1. And So It Begins

^__________^ IIIIIIIIIIIIII'M BAAA-ACK!!!  
  
Ok, well first of all I want to say I'm reeeeeeally sorry for anyone who read my first fic that I haven't signed on for so long, but school has been hectic and some things have been happening at home, thing's that I'm finding it hard to deal with, so that's been preventing me from writing... though reading the wonderful fics I love so very much couldn't be prevented by anything, because reading is something that really makes me feel great!! Especially those fics where Sora and Riku end up blissfully happy together in the end... *sigh* so beautiful. Or angst, it's all good heh  
  
Well anyway, I decided that in order to write another fic, I would have to try and be at least a little original, because I don't just want to rewrite what everyone has had an attempt at. Don't get me wrong, some of my fave fics are written simply just about Sora and Riku being best buds and then realising their love blah blah blah, with no real difference of a starting point. The difference with me is, I'm not as good a writer as those people, and therefore I'm going to try my best at creating a different storyline so you can't compare me!!! Cross your fingers for me, will ya? 'Twould be much obliged!  
  
Well sorry for that huge explanation, but I just felt like it ^_^ Anyway, I got this crappy idea about fate and things, so I decided to make it into a fic and see how it went, how you guys like it and all.  
  
Disclaimer: Wow... I always forget these! Anyway, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, obviously, or my dear little boys would be together by now!!!  
  
Ok now, don't kill me if it sucks majorly!!! *gulp* here goes...  
  
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BEEP BEEP BEEP  
  
Sora groaned as he dragged his limp, tired body up into a sitting position, slamming his hand down on the dreaded alarm. School was something most teenagers dreaded, and for Sora it was definitely nothing he looked forward to. No, it wasn't the general anti-homework, teacher hating and early rising woes of a normal teenager, because Sora had always loved the learning aspect of school and finished his homework on time. Teachers loved him, and although he definitely hated getting up early, he couldn't be sure if that was something that had just been formed because of his schooling conditions.  
  
Sora had never been an extremely popular student, in fact his appearance, true to his home life, of a poor and neglected kid, somewhat repelled his classmates to befriending him. He was generally the last one to be picked on teams and was usually left sitting alone at his desk in his little country-town school. It had never bothered him of course, and he still took the time to enjoy his life as much as he possibly could.  
  
His childhood had, in truth, been awful. Up to the age of 4, it had been wonderful, though he could hardly remember it. His mother had died when he was 2 years old, which had sent his father spiralling into depression. Of course Sora didn't understand why suddenly every night a bowl of raw packet noodles was slammed on to the table in front of him with a grunt, instead of the meals his parents had cooked together, laughing lovingly together, letting Sora stir or taste their creations.  
  
When Sora was of age to make his own food, he instantly warmed to creating meals from his mother's old cookbook for himself. He began to cook for his father, though his father, forever trapped in misery from the effects of a broken heart, simply gulped down whatever was handed to him and passed the dish back, mumbling some sort of thanks. Sora blocked out the hurt that he felt whenever his hard work was unappreciated and eventually came to delude himself to believe that his father really meant it when he thanked him.  
  
"Hope you liked it dad!" he'd say cheerfully as he bounced back into the kitchen to wash the dishes.  
  
Sora had lived his life like this, happy just to be taking care of his dad and deluding himself with the image he had created that he was living a healthy, normal life. Now that he was 14, Sora had come to terms with his home life, and knew it wasn't normal. He knew better than that, he was a smart boy.  
  
Sora didn't have the best luck though, and just when he had come to accept his home life, when he began to attend high school, a particular guy called Ansem (A/N: it's not very original I know, but I figured it would do) from the year above him had decided to make a big joke out of him. Sora was sort of used to being made a big joke out of, but at his previous school, there wasn't anybody like Ansem. He was much bigger than Sora and had a violent streak in him that it seemed couldn't be tamed. Sora walked to school, seeing as his dad hadn't driven in years and he had no money for a bus, considering his dad lived on child support and nothing except food, extremely necessary resources, bills and dollar savings a week could be afforded. All of this, of course, was organised by Sora. The first morning Sora walked to high school, his path met with the path of Ansem, who was strolling along the dirt road, kicking at rocks with his cuffed boots. Ever since he had looked up coolly at the sounds of him approaching on Sora's first day of high school, he had hated Sora, without Sora ever knowing why. He pushed him, punched him, kicked him, hurt him in every way possible, and Sora couldn't do anything about it. Because of his father's neglect, he never noticed any marks on him, and thus it was Sora and Ansem's secret.  
  
So this morning Sora dreaded, once more, the trip to school. He grunted slightly as he slipped out from under his sheets and into the confined space of his bedroom, swiping up his carefully laid out clothes, slung over a battered chair that sat next to his rickety desk. He stepped out into the lounge room where his dad was hanging over the couch in what looked like the most uncomfortable position ever, his previously handsome physic now slackened with the time he had neglected himself. Sora sighed and moved on, advancing towards the bathroom where he roughly turned the taps on the shower, stripping off his boxers to have the quick shower he took every school morning.  
  
Stepping out of the shower, Sora wiped a messy circle in the mirror to observe himself. His hair was dripping wet, though somehow still managed to stick out every which way. He tried to sort out his hair, but gave up once more with a low, heavy sigh. He towelled himself down quickly, rubbing at his hair furiously, then trying to push it down again. He hurriedly fumbled with his clothes, pulling them on and examining himself once more in the mirror, hoping he looked all right. He stepped out of the bathroom and flicked the light off, slamming the door behind him.  
  
"I'll seeya tonight ok dad?" he bellowed with insincere happiness.  
  
His previously made lunch lay on the kitchen table and he swiped it up, placed it in his bag and zipped it closed. He took one fleeting look back at his dad and headed out the door, rattling his keys in his hands before he locked it behind him.  
  
Sora began humming a tune to a song he couldn't remember and began to try to place it as he trudged along the dusty road to his small school. Giving up, he started to hum a new tune when he noticed a bitter laughing coming from somewhere on the path ahead. Of course, Sora knew that laugh off by heart, and had given up on the hope that he wouldn't come across the path of its owner... however, he wasn't so foolish anymore. Sora turned a cool face to the towering, threatening figure of Ansem, standing somewhere in the distance. Of course he had, he had been looking for Sora, and that laugh had confirmed that he had seen him come into view.  
  
"C'mon, I've only got so much time!" he yelled smoothly with a sly cat's grin.  
  
Sora walked over to him calmly, his head held high, looking him in the face as he always did. He had long ago stopped fearing Ansem, instead keeping his pride by looking him in the eyes and let him hurt him without Ansem knowing how much it really affected Sora.  
  
As soon as Sora lifted his head to Ansem, he made a fierce grimace and spat directly into Sora's face. He couldn't help flinching, raising his hands to his eyes to wipe it away from them. He lifted his sleeve to his face and wiped it away, looking at Ansem once more with the very same serene face. Ansem thrust his arm out around Sora's shoulders, clenching his forearm a little too tightly.  
  
"Say Sor, are you ok? You know, I've been noticing you're not quite the sissy I know... it's not right. Don't like you that way. Is there any way I can help?" said Ansem, shrinking down to Sora's level, eying him as he batted his eyelashes sweetly.  
  
Sora just lifted his head higher, sticking his nose in the air and still looking straight into Ansem's eyes.  
  
"What's that? Yeah, you're right, maybe a good beating will help!" chuckled Ansem sinisterly, watching for Sora to flinch or widen his eyes as he used to when he had first began high school.  
  
Ansem frowned, his eyes lighting up so that he looked murderous. In one move, he lifted his hand and swiped it across Sora's cheek, loosening his grasp so that Sora flew to the ground below him with a bloody nose, leaving a scarlet pool on the dirty path. Sitting up, Sora spat the dirt that had entered his mouth into the pool of blood and wiping his nose with his sleeve. He stood up valiantly to face Ansem once more, a scowl forming on his face before he grabbed Sora by the collar and dragged him towards a much-abandoned hut, where he slammed him against the wall.  
  
"When I talk to you, I expect you to answer me!" spat Ansem through gritted teeth, eyes glowing with hatred. He clenched his free hand into a tightly balled fist and propelled it into Sora's ribs, breaking two in the process and forcing a fit of coughs out of Sora.  
  
"Understand, scum?" he hissed into Sora's ear, daring him not to answer.  
  
Sora gave a curt nod, eyes welling with tears of pain and longing to double over and weep.  
  
"Good. Don't forget it. Hmmm... You a sporty person Sora...? I asked you a question Sora, answer me!"  
  
Sora shook his head brusquely, the pain of blinking back his tears increasing immensely every time he tried to.  
  
"Gee that's too bad... You know, I am... let's see if we can work as a team! You, my dear, lucky little Sora, can act as a shot-put," cackled Ansem in a low, evil voice before he used his vast strength to clasp Sora's shirt tighter and fling him across the path, laughing lowly all the while.  
  
Everything from there on took place in a sort of slow motion for Sora. He could hear himself shriek a blood-curdling scream as he felt his body collide with something, though he didn't even think to look and see what. He tumbled as it moved, and he realised a car was running into him. As the car screeched to a halt, he felt his body flinging into the air once more and he landed on the rocky surface of the road. Blood surged up his throat and he unconsciously spat it out beside himself. A tall figure was standing very still close by, and as soon as he looked at the blurriness of the figure, it began to bolt down the road. Shouting nearby followed the figure... a woman's voice...  
  
Something lightly came under Sora's head, but before Sora could see or hear anything else, his eyes had fluttered closed and he fell unconscious.  
  
***  
  
Riku tapped the table to the beat of his music that was pounding in his ears. With a furious look at his watch, he stood up to pace the room.  
  
"Where is she...?" he whispered heatedly, kicking at the shiny floorboards of the kitchen, which lead to the front door. 'She always does this,' thought Riku, flicking his hair back behind him irritably. He rushed towards his stereo system and pushed the off button down hard, flopping once more into the chair he was waiting in.  
  
All of a sudden, the phone began ringing its shrill tone. Riku groaned as he lifted his body upwards and raced to the living room to pick it up. He picked up the receiver with a click.  
  
"Hello?" he said, panting slightly.  
  
"Oh, Riku, honey! It's me!"  
  
"Yes..." replied Riku hollowly.  
  
"Well, seems I've got a little bit of a problem hon, something's happened at the hospital and I need to stay around for a bit. It's really quite awful actually..."  
  
"Ok, you can't take me shopping."  
  
"Er... right. See, I had something else in mind though... I figured, considering the circumstances, that you could come down here. I could spare a couple minutes to come pick you up and maybe you could do something for me here...?"  
  
"Ok. I'll be waiting."  
  
"Oh, don't you want to know the favour?"  
  
"No, I'll do it."  
  
"Thanks a load sweetie, seeya in five!"  
  
Whatever. A boring favour. Riku clunked the phone back and sighed heavily, forking his wallet from his jeans and replacing it back on the table, knowing that he had been right when he knew his mother would never come around, never realise how much he wanted to spend time with her. His father was even worse, always working to put their expensive food on their table and buy their many possessions. Riku had learnt to deal with that, and never knowing his father as well. His mother, however, he expected better from. She worked at the hospital as a nurse to pay for even more unneeded possessions, and though she only applied for it part time, she took up the spaces that were left empty, due to her "pushover" attitude. Riku always took it the wrong way, thinking that she thought her work was more important than he was.  
  
He wandered to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. He had thought he could have lunch with his mum, but now that he was going to the hospital he figured a home lunch would be better by far than hospital food! Taking out some ingredients from the fridge, he started on a simple sandwich. Riku sat down at the table and clunked his plate down in front of him. He ate the sandwich hurriedly, knowing that his mother had unpredictability about her, and not wanting to have to eat it in the car. Just after dumping his plate on the sink, his mother burst through the door in her work uniform, flashing Riku a smile resembling his own- perfect- as she bustled through the kitchen and upstairs.  
  
With a raised eyebrow, Riku traipsed over to the stair curiously. He could hear his mother searching for something in... his room? Why the hell was she in there?! Just when he was about to storm up and tell her to get out, she appeared with a triumphant grin on her, and clasped in her hands and dangling from her arms, where Riku's five Harry Potter books.  
  
"Mum..." mumbled Riku in embarrassment. He was Riku; cool, collected, smooth- nobody was supposed to know he read Harry Potter!  
  
"Oh relax!" she giggled, approaching him downstairs, "Nobody's going to find out about your little obsession, peanut! Just for the hospital... part of your favour! Really, some people are monsters..." she continued, shaking her head.  
  
"Ok, let's go then," said Riku bluntly, secretly hoping that whatever she did, she didn't do anything to her books.  
  
The two went out to the car and each slid into the front seats. Riku noticed that there was some noticeable damage done to the front of the car, and a small crack on the windshield, but chose not to ask him mother. The car took off smoothly and Riku peered out the window, tapping his fingers on the dashboard. The scenic view was breathtaking. It was a perfect day, the sky a bold, bright blue, the trees that surrounded the area swaying just slightly in the breeze. As the car slowed at a stoplight, Riku saw a pair of girls point in his direction. Raising his eyebrows, Riku smirked at the giggling two, and swooning, they waved. Deciding to play along with the game that girls so often tried to play with him, being as gorgeous as he was, he raised his hand and swiped it across slowly, in the sexiest wave possible. He noticed the girls biting their lips, one bouncing in circles around the other.  
  
'That's funny,' thought Riku, 'I thought I knew everyone around here... they must be new.'  
  
At this idea, Riku sniggered, knowing that tormenting them would be an extremely entertaining game. Considering the small size of his town, he was sure he would run into them sooner or later.  
  
"Hey, what are you laughing at?" said his mother accusingly, eying the girls, who were now sliding down a shop wall with ecstatic smiles, as they drove off, "I don't want you teasing those girls, muffin. It's not easy for them! You're so... mean!"  
  
Riku sighed mockingly, flashing a cheesy grin at his mother before turning it towards other passers by, making them melt too.  
  
"Aw... there's always one like you, everywhere I've gone!" she went on sulkily, though laughing airily afterwards.  
  
They arrived at the hospital as Riku gave her a cocky smile back to her comments. He was in better spirits now; his mother had a way of cheering people up without even knowing she was doing so. That's why, every time she cancelled on him, he had no choice but to forgive her. It was impossible to stay angry at such a glowing personality.  
  
"Ok Ri baby, I'm just gonna go check in with the office, do you want anything to eat or drink or anything?" she asked, looking down at her watch anxiously.  
  
"Um..."  
  
"Well you know where to go if you do hun, so wait here and I'll be back when I'm done!" she finished, scuffling off with her bag swinging wildly over her shoulder.  
  
Preferring not to bother anyone in the hospital, Riku went over to a drink machine and put his hand in his pocket for some money. 'Damn... I left my wallet at home,' thought Riku with a sigh as he slid slowly into a chair next to a small red-haired, freckled girl with shining blue eyes who squeaked excitedly. Choosing to ignore her, he straightened up and picked up a magazine, flicking through the pages impatiently. This magazine wasn't exactly what Riku would usually be reading, considering it was a girl's fashion magazine, but it would have to do. Scanning through the pages of flowing dresses and half naked women, Riku decided on a barely amusing article about what the columnist eccentrically claimed was wrong with the male species.  
  
After some time, Riku had the feeling that he was being looked at. He was pretty used to recognising the heated feeling that effected people when other people's eyes bore into them. Riku smirked, realising it was the girl next to him who kept giving him the fleeting looks he could feel so well. Letting out a jaded sigh, he draped his arm over the arm rest, his other hand dropping to his side with the magazine loosely clutched in it, very careful to just barely brush against the girl's arm and receiving an even higher squeak than the one she had let out when he sat down. 'This one's going to be fun,' he thought maliciously, tapping the end of the armrest and knowing that he was driving her insane. He could see out of the corner of his eye that she was biting her lip and gazing with glazed eyes at his fingers, entranced by their movements. Straightening up in his chair, Riku flicked his hair slightly and suddenly took his hand up, plunging it into his mane of silver, the girl's eyes following his hand.  
  
"Excu-"  
  
"RIKU!"  
  
Riku raised a startled face, forgetting the game he was playing with the girl and that she had just began to talk to him, and jumping to his feet. That voice was his mother...  
  
"There y'are bunny boy!" she said, bouncing in and skidding to a halt in front of him. Her smile vanished as she saw the girl blushing and eying Riku.  
  
"Oh darling, you're so cruel," she sighed, walking off and waving her hand in a motion that told him to follow. Sighing in defeat of the game, Riku followed her coolly, pretending he hadn't even taken notice of the girl.  
  
"Ok then peanut, I haven't told you about this favour yet," she started hastily, still walking through the corridor which was surrounded by dulled beeps and voices, "Well... it's more on the easier side of the favours I've had to ask you."  
  
Riku grunted. That didn't say much- she had asked of some pretty hard stuff from him in her history as a nurse at the hospital.  
  
Ignoring Riku's grunt, she went on, "See I had a nasty accident on my way out to check up on one of my old patients. You remember old Mrs. Millicent? Yeah, well she lives a bit of a way out and so I thought I would go and see how the old dear's going. She's quite well, you know. Anyway, I was travelling down in the country and the strangest thing happened- this boy, he was thrown onto my windshield! I know, awful isn't it? Well, turns out a nasty young man was bullying the poor boy, and had taken things too far. Well, any bullying is too far in my opinion, but he endangered this boy's life! Well anyway, to the favour... see, he doesn't really have anyone who cares for him. His mother died when he was little, bless him, and his father is trapped behind walls of depression," she sighed, with a sad glint in her eyes, "He's only a year younger than you, and I thought maybe... you could just keep him company, visit him. It could be good for both of you. You could do with a new friend baby!"  
  
Riku took it all in with good grace, and understood completely. His mother had always been charitable, and anyone with a heart would help this boy who had obviously been so badly mistreated.  
  
"I'll help. Stop rambling," he chuckled, waving off her pout with a swift movement of his hand. They walked through the echoing hallway until they reached a room, much like every other one they had passed, the door halfway open to reveal the foot of a bed. His mother stepped ahead of him and pushed the door open fully, smiling back at Riku as she entered and lifting a finger to her lips as to tell Riku to be quiet. Urging him in, she closed the door behind them and ushered Riku to the bedside.  
  
"He must have fallen asleep... oh, he must be so tired!" she whispered affectionately in Riku's ear, still eying the sleeping figure.  
  
Riku approached the bed warily and took a moment to inspect the boy. He instantly felt his heart melt as he saw the heart shaped face, battered, cut and bruised by the accident, the rose petal lips, slightly parted, and the tousled locks of chocolate brown. He looked at peace, and as far as Riku could see, he looked like the last person in the world to have deserved this life. He was like a sleeping angel. 'Don't judge a book by it's cover,' he thought to himself, reminding himself that everyone looked that peaceful when sleeping. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke his thoughts, and he reluctantly looked up from the boy's face into his mother's.  
  
"Well, I've got some things to be doing. I was wondering if you would just wait by his bed in case he wakes, and I'll come back for you in a while to see how you get along... Well, if he does wake up this is. Don't be impatient with him, he's been through a bit of a rough time. He's probably exhausted."  
  
"Yeah I know, I won't get bored. I can read these Harry Potter books... gee, they look familiar," he exclaimed, the mocking tone in his voice impossible to miss.  
  
After receiving a playful whack from his mother, he waved idly at her and dragged a chair from the corner over to the bedside. Slipping into the cold chair, he decided to look at... wait, what was his name? 'Thanks mom,' he thought with a grin. Oh well, he could just wait and see if he would wake up, then ask him, or ask his mother when she came back.  
  
Aligning his train of though back to that of the one that involved speculating the angel sleeping before him, Riku looked closer at his face. Bloodied grazes were scattered across his creamy complexion, deepest on the bridge of his nose, his chin, forehead and left cheekbone. His bottom lip was split, and parts of his left cheek were splotched in bruises. His faced had remarkably not puffed up at all, and so he was easily recognisable, still looking much as he did without his injuries.  
  
'How could I get bored?' thought Riku, staring at the figure and watching the serene rise and fall of the other boy's chest. Riku let out a sigh and flexed his fingers, longing to wake the boy and find out who this mystery boy really was, and what he was like.  
  
As if it were a reaction to his thoughts, he saw the boy stir. Raising quickly from his seat, he leaned his face over the other boy's, his silver tresses just brushing the boy's face, a composed look on his own, yet bubbling with excitement inside. As Riku had hopefully awaited, the boy's eyelids began to twitch and his eyes fluttered open sleepily, staring up at the boy hovering above him.  
  
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Well... *ahem* Hope I did ok...? Please review!!!  
  
Well this is how it all comes together, I don't think I've ever read of them meeting in a hospital before! Goodo, something unique ^_^  
  
Well I'm totally ecstatic right now, because I just finished downloading Peter Pan 03- I LOVE JEREMY SUMPTER!!! Anyone think I'm in with a chance? No, best not to answer that.  
  
Anyway, I'll leave now and I hope nobody has abandoned me at all... I just got a review for my other fic today, so that's still good!  
  
Well love you all, thanks for reading and... stuff... *cough*  
  
xoxo Eva McBeava 


	2. The Scene Is Set

Well, I'm back again, and trying ever so hard to update quickly all the while juggling a hectic social life, an even more hectic school life, a perfectly horrid home life and a love life I am trying awfully hard to fulfil... My my, I am a busy little bee!!!  
  
Ok, well I always love to thank my reviewers and answer their absolute vital questions, so here's to you lovely people who I am so very grateful for *bows* Thanks to:  
  
CLOud- thank you! It's good to know that you appreciate the whole non- stereotypical thing coz I really wanted to be as original as I possibly could, even though I'll never come close to how good my very fave fics are... Well, I can try! Please keep reading, and thanks for reviewing "My Angel" as well  
  
Muffy- Nah, Riku and Sora live in different places, which is clear in this chap... and you're totally right about both Ansem and Sora's father, and that's exactly the right feeling I sought to get from readers when I made the characters- Ansem WILL come back into the story! Yeah, I tried to make Riku's mom different to Riku and more like Sora I guess... all cute and stuff hehe!!! Thanks for the big review ^_^  
  
Also thanks to: Raven's Light, hush the silent, Rainy Diamond and Tiara, for you're very kind words *bows again*  
  
Anyway, as you know, Sora and Riku meet here, and they start to find out who each other are, how very different yet the same they may be and you know the deal. So far I'm thinking that it's going to be sort of from the different boy's point of view in each chapter, IF that sounds alright with you guys... I mean, not their point of view, but with access to their thoughts and stuff... you know? Maybe not in this chapter because I have to be able to show first impressions for both of the boys, but let me know if it's ok for me to do that, or otherwise I'll just do it as it comes along! Enjoy chapter 2!!!  
  
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Sora could feel himself being eased back into the waking world, the blackness of dreaming slowly fading from him. He had an uneasy feeling come over him, suspiciousness as though something was waiting for him to return to his awakened state. Finding that he couldn't go on in his persistent attempts at going back to sleep, he urged his eyelids open. They flickered momentarily and hazily opened, half lidded, his glazed azure orbs emerging to the world once more. He let out a loud yawn before trying to focus and take in his surroundings.  
  
Meanwhile, Riku had become entranced by the further innocence of the boy when he had opened his eyes, like a newborn puppy. Those eyes, like pools of sapphire wonder... he marvelled that it was possible that someone could have such striking eyes. At the large yawn that stretched across the boy's face, he cocked an eyebrow, a closed grin pulling at his lips. 'He hasn't even noticed me, hovering inches from his face...'  
  
At this precise moment, the brunet rubbed his eyes with a fumbling hand and focused the room.  
  
"Mmm... WHA?!"  
  
The boy's eyes widened in shock as he noticed the youth who was hanging over him, draping his pillow in silky strands of silver. Yelping, he unthinkingly jumped up, his head making a painful collision with that of the boy leaning over him. Riku gave an angry yell of surprise and clattered back into the chair, rubbing his forehead and fixing the boy who had now bolted upright, also rubbing his forehead, with an irritated look. Returning the look with a sheepish grin, Sora mumbled a chuckle. A blush crept up onto his battered face, and Riku's glare softened to an expression of triumph, knowing instantly that he could play a game with this boy, one that would be a new twist to those that he played with the city girls who were so obvious in their swooning. Knocking Riku out of his thoughts, the boy beside him began to speak.  
  
"Um... I'd hate to be rude and all but... Who are you?" he said meekly, looking at Riku questioningly. Riku sniggered, sweeping the hand that had been previously rubbing his head down through his hair and past his neck, sliding it down the side of his body so that it rested on his hip. Standing up, he offered his other hand to the boy.  
  
"I'm Riku," he purred silkily, taking the boy's hand and half shaking it, half caressing it, though from his practices, managing to make it seem normal and natural, "your nurse's son. I assumed she had told you I was coming... Well, she didn't tell me your name. Must have slipped her mind..."  
  
Sora sat with his arm outstretched, hand rested in Riku's palm, who was gently moving it up and down in a portrayal of a lover's handshake. Realising that he was gawking at the silver-haired youth, he took his hand back abruptly.  
  
"Sora, my name's Sora. Yes, hello, Riku. Your mom told me about you coming in today but I kinda sorta didn't expect you to be... um..." Sora could no longer keep talking, seeing the other boy's tongue flick over his top lip so briefly, he wondered if he had imagined it. Again realising he had stopped talking, he began where he had left off.  
  
"I, uh, yeah, didn't expect you to be leaning over my bed while I slept. Heh."  
  
At that, Sora flashed Riku a confident grin, surprising the hell out of Riku.  
  
"Oh... ok, fair enough. Just thought you looked cute is all," said Riku with a wink, approaching Sora's bedside further.  
  
Trying to avoid eye contact with Riku, so as not to freeze up and go blank again, Sora giggled. 'Not like one of those idiotic girls would giggle...' thought Riku, 'I didn't think it was possible to giggle and not sound like an idiot. Hm, learn something new everyday.' Smirking, Riku waited for Sora to do something.  
  
"So where do you go to school, uh, Riku?" he questioned enthusiastically.  
  
"School? Well, the only high school in the little city of Shazahri Vale, of course... Appropriately named, Shazahri Vale High," he grinned, cocking an eyebrow at the boy who had so far refused to look at Riku's face, busying himself by playing with his blanket.  
  
"Right, well, I'm not really all that familiar with this city. I mean, it's the closest real city from my home, but... ehm..."  
  
Riku, getting bored of not being able to turn Sora into jelly by looking at him, launched another attack. Softly lowering himself into a half sitting, half lying position on Sora's bed, he leaned back against the wall casually, flicking his tresses behind him.  
  
"Where you from Sora? My mother told me you were somewhere way out there," he said, waving his hand in a lazy movement in front of him, "but where exactly are you from?"  
  
"Just this tiny little town out on the borders of Shazahri. It's called Dale Town... pretty boring place. I mean, there's not many people and all, so that's why nobody's here with me and my dad kinda gets busy and stuff..." Sora mumbled, trying to make excuses for his unpopularity and appalling home life. Feeling a huge load of sympathy weigh down his heart, Riku smiled at Sora warmly. 'The game can wait... I'll have plenty of time. Mom's bound to want him to stick around for as long as possible.'  
  
"Hey that's cool, we can get to know each other better when it's just us. Mom's always telling me I need to get out more and meet more people outside my group of friends. She thinks they're 'too depressing'" he laughed, rolling his eyes.  
  
Sora let out another mumbled chuckle, feeling comfortable enough to look Riku in the eyes now. Fighting the temptation to do something wicked, Riku jumped up off Sora's bed. Sora winced in the pain that he felt surging through his side and Riku immediately apologized to him, feeling seriously bad for the poor kid.  
  
"So how old are ya?" he said, inspecting the room, feeling sympathy grip him even further as he saw that he had not gotten any flowers or a card or anything. He'd thought that if his father couldn't be here, at least he would have sent Sora something.  
  
"Fourteen... Well, for another week or something. Then I'm fifteen!" he beamed, earning a laugh from his new friend. Forming his face into a pouty glare, Sora went on, "What about you?"  
  
"Fifteen," said Riku, tapping at the desk that sat beside Sora's bed, "but in just two weeks, I'll be sixteen," he smirked, flicking himself back around to face Sora.  
  
"When do you think I'll be outta here Riku?" asked Sora, fingering his bruised cheek with a slender hand.  
  
"I dunno... What internal injuries you got?"  
  
"Um... A couple broken ribs and a broken arm," he answered back, shifting the blankets to show Riku a plaster covering his arm. 'Only mom's signed it...' thought Riku.  
  
"Well, not long then probably! And when you get out, we can-"  
  
"Riku, had any luck?" came a hushed voice as his mother's head appeared through the door that she had silently creaked open. Both boys raised startled heads to the face that had appeared in the room.  
  
"Oooooh, will you look at that? Good to see you've met now boys!" she squealed, clamping her hands together as if the scene before her was something precious. The boys exchanged amused glances before Riku talked back to his mother.  
  
"Yeah, Sora woke up pretty much right after you left. Say, how long you think he'll be in here?"  
  
"Hmmm... Well Sora honey, we just want you to heal up a bit, so depending on your healing rate, you'll be home in a couple days- hey, maybe even tomorrow!"  
  
Riku looked at Sora's face, knowing that he was inwardly groaning at the word "home".  
  
"But... Well, I thought that maybe if you and Riku do become friends, and it looks like you already have, you could stay in Shazahri, with us! Riku has another bed in his room... he might even let you use his double and use the single himself."  
  
'Knew it,' thought Riku with a smile, happy that he could play his little game in his own house, in his own room, 'Mom's little charity.'  
  
Sora seemed to be looking at Riku to answer the question rather than himself, scared that if he said he wanted to stay that Riku would laugh and tell him that there was no way in hell he would have this little boy in his room at all, let alone in his bed. Riku blinked slowly at Sora, his very sexiest smile implanted on his face, and purred, "Yeah Sora, why don't you stay? There's plenty of room, you can stay as long as you want..."  
  
Sora's first attempt at speaking came out cracked and high pitched, to Sora's embarrassment, so he cleared his throat and began again, smiling at Riku uneasily though managing to look him in the eyes.  
  
"Sounds great! Er... but my dad-"  
  
"Oh no, I called him before. Took a few times, but he picked up in the end! Yes, well he doesn't... He um, doesn't mind. He said... it would be good for you to get some new friends and he sends his love," she said, biting her lip. Riku lowered his eyes to his shoes, knowing that his mother had made up the whole "it would be good for you to get some new friends" and new for sure that he hadn't sent his love. Sora, however, didn't pick it up, and the silence was broken by his excited voice.  
  
"Oh, well that's really great! Thanks, I really appreciate your hospitality and stuff!" he said, in the most damn adorable voice Riku had ever heard.  
  
"Cool! Well, I still have a lot of work to catch up on, but-"  
  
"Excuse me?" said a cool voice, coming from the crack in the door. A blonde nurse with a hard face appeared in the doorway. Her face broke into a smile when she saw the boys and Riku's mother, "Oh, hello Nisha! Sora," she started, looking at the boy in the bed, "you have some visitors."  
  
Sora's eyes lit up in a mixture of confusion and happiness.  
  
"Really? For... for me?"  
  
Laughing, the nurse opened the doorway wider, and two beaming girls walked inside. Riku held back a scoff; it was the two girls who had swooned over him in the car! The girls looked at him with wide eyes and began giggling. 'There's that idiot giggle again.'  
  
"Hi Sora!" said the red-haired girl through her giggles, "I know we don't talk to you very much or anything, but we heard about what Ansem did, and we felt really bad for you... so we thought we would come down to Shazahri and see you!"  
  
"Yeah..." began the brunette, ripping her eyes off of Riku, "We brought you some stuff!" she said, bouncing over to the foot of Sora's bed and dumping a big bouquet of pretty flowers, a box of chocolate and a pink card with too many love hearts to count on it.  
  
"Ow," winced Sora, stilling himself on the bed, "Gee thanks you guys, that's real nice of you!"  
  
Sensing that the girls wanted to be introduced to the silver-haired God standing next to him, reluctantly began talking once more, "Um... Well, this is Riku, Riku, this is Kairi," he said forcefully, waving a hand at the red-haired girl, "And this is Selphie."  
  
The girls both smiled widely, eyes shining. Selphie seemed to be bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet while Kairi was clasping her hands behind her back.  
  
"Nice to meet you girls." said Riku bluntly, though it was enough for the girls to give each other toothy grins and giggle some more. Sora looked a little taken aback but Riku reassured him that the girls didn't impress him in the slightest by cocking a silver eyebrow at him. Sora returned the look with an awkward yet relieved smile.  
  
Looking from each girl to each of the boys, Riku's mother told them that she had to be getting on with her work once more and left them all to "get to know each other." With a cautionary look at Riku, warning him not to play games with anyone, she slipped through the door and was gone.  
  
Sora, feeling slightly jealous because of Riku getting such attention from the girls, or maybe that the girls were trying to get Riku's attention, tried his best to show up the girls.  
  
"So Riku, um, how long you want me to stay?" he said, looking up at Riku with a questioning look. Riku smiled at his obvious attempt to show the girls that he was going to win with Riku. Of course, Riku knew that he was going to win, but he wasn't planning on showing anyone that.  
  
"What, in the hospital?" he said, fixing Sora with a look of mock confusion.  
  
"No," started Sora with a pout, "at your house."  
  
"Well however long you want really," he replied uninterestedly, inspecting his nails.  
  
"Hmph... ok," he answered with a disappointed tone in his voice.  
  
"Listen, I'm gonna go get a burger from this place just around the corner from the hospital. The food in here is just gross! I'll grab you one too, I'm sure it'd be better than anything you find in here. Seeya soon Sora, girls," he finished bowing his head at the two girls and slipping past them and out the door. Once he was gone, the girls launched themselves right beside Sora's bed and squealed unintelligible questions at him. He wondered in amazement how they could do that without stopping for air. Finally, stopping their squealing, they took a deep breath and fixed Sora with enthusiastic looks.  
  
"Sorry, I er... didn't get any of that," he said uneasily.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Kairi began interrogating Sora much slower than before.  
  
"How do you know him, why are you staying with him, who IS he and can we come over?" she finished, edging her enthused face closer and closer to his own perturbed one.  
  
"Ok, well... He's my nurse's son, his mom wants me to stay, er... he's Riku, the nurse's son, and I don't really know... it's not my house."  
  
"Oh, but we'll be ever so good!" howled Selphie, getting down on her knee and begging him with pleading puppy dog eyes.  
  
"Well sure, it's fine with me, you'll just have to ask Riku."  
  
At that, the girls exchanged glances and jumped around, holding each other's hands. Sora rolled his eyes. 'Ugh. Girls.' After many squeal-filled minutes, of which Sora had been pleadingly staring at the door, Riku appeared through it with two burgers in hand. Instantly the girls went silent, still clenching each other's hands.  
  
"Here ya go Sora," he said silkily, throwing the burger in a paper bag to him, which landed in his lap smoothly.  
  
The blonde nurse returned to the room with Riku's mother following close behind.  
  
"I'm afraid you're going to have to leave now girls, visiting hours are up... Riku, you're a special exception because your mother doesn't get off for another twenty minutes. You can keep Sora company til then, but then he needs some more rest!"  
  
Sora fought the urge to say he was fine, that he could even go back to Riku's and stay there, but chose not to under the risk of sounding desperate.  
  
"Awww! Well ok, we'll come back to visit you tomorrow Sora, if you're still here! Um... well, if you're not, call us," said Kairi, fishing out a piece of paper from her pocket, "Anyone got a pen or something?"  
  
Nisha immediately pulled the permanent marker she always carried around with her so she could sign any patients' casts, and handed it to Kairi. She scribbled down a number, handing it to Sora, and gave the pen back to Nisha.  
  
"Wait, mom, can I have that?"  
  
Nisha gave him the marker with a questioning look on her face, which Riku chose to ignore.  
  
"We're staying at Selphie's parents' shack, it's just off the beach. They usually come here for holidays, but we kinda begged them to let us come, and considering your circumstances, they let us! Only til you come home though... well, that's cool, you're staying at Riku's anyway!"  
  
Sora gave them a lopsided smile before saying goodbye, and they both hugged him as carefully as they could so as not to make him wince once more.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Riku," they squeaked, bouncing out the door. Listening for the high pitched giggles to fade and subside, the two nurses went off to finish up their work, waving to the boys.  
  
"Well... Looks like you've got friends after all, Sora!"  
  
"Yeah, looks that way... Riku, you think I'm gonna get out tomorrow? I mean, I don't really like hospitals. They really creep me out. This is the hospital my mom died in... I mean, it's sort of stupid 'cause I was only four when it happened, but I still don't like it very much..."  
  
Riku felt the sympathy pull at his heart again, and he felt like picking him up and carrying the boy home right then. Giving Sora the kindest smile he could sum up, he cupped his shoulder gently with his hand.  
  
"Hey, I'll get my mom to pull some string for ya... She'll understand, and since she's a nurse they're bound to let you stay. I'll come here for her morning shift and stick around til she gets the go ahead from the superiors."  
  
Sora's eyes lit up, glowing with glassy tears as though it was the nicest thing anyone had said or done for him. Riku was starting to think it really was...  
  
"Oh, thanks a heap Riku! To tell you the truth, I don't really have any friends, so you're being real nice by letting me stay with you and stuff."  
  
Putting a surprised face on, Riku replied, "Yeah Sora, sure! Don't be modest. See, those girls are your friends."  
  
"Well... they are now. Because I know you."  
  
Laughing, Riku patted Sora's head and shook his own.  
  
"Don't underestimate yourself."  
  
Sora grunted in reply and looked up at Riku with a little boy's smile. He had undoubtedly never lost it, and probably never would. Just like that gorgeous pout.  
  
"Riiiiiiiiikuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" came the call that was unmistakably his mother's, just before she jumped through the door into the room.  
  
"My shift's done baby, and your father wanted us to go out to dinner. I didn't really know how long my shift was gonna be, but guess what? We have a few hours to spare before dinner so I'm going to take you shopping after all! Sora, I'm coming in tomorrow bright and early, so I'll seeya then." she finished, coming over and giving Sora a kiss on the cheek and an affectionate motherly look.  
  
"Yeah, I'm coming too mom. I promised Sora I would come in and see him, he doesn't like hospitals," proclaimed Riku, hinting to his mother.  
  
"Oh... Well, you'll be outta here soon!" she smiled, ruffling the boy's messy hair.  
  
"C'mon Ri, we'll see Sora again tomorrow. You get some sleep, ok?"  
  
She began to walk out of the room, but Riku stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.  
  
"Hang on mom, I got to do something first," smirked Riku evilly, taking the marker he had acquired from his mother earlier out of his pocket. Gently pushing the blanket away from Sora's cast, he took the lid of the marker off. Choosing a spot off to the side next to Sora's chest, he lowered his hand. Moving the marker across, he heard Sora shiver from the contact the back of his hand was making with his chest. His smirk growing wider, Riku signed his name at the bottom of his simple note. Clicking the lid back on with his trademark mocking grin, he gave Sora a discreet wink and waved quickly before slipping out the door behind Nisha.  
  
Sora let out a satisfied sigh and slid back to a lying position, grinning happily. 'So that's Riku,' he thought. Yesterday he'd have never even have thought it was possible that he could be lying here in the very same hospital he had watched his mother die in, awaiting the next morning when he would be going to stay with a boy who resembled some kind of silver- haired god, and his mother who was more suited to being Riku's age than her own. Realising how wonderful this was, Sora let out an even more satisfied sigh and a short laugh.  
  
Sora shut his eyes, still wearing his happy grin, and began to try and sleep. 'The cast!' he thought suddenly, realising that he had totally forgotten about Riku's message on his cast. Tilting his head so as to see the message which Riku had so kindly placed upside down from his view, he raised his arm as high as he could to read it. His eyes grew wide and he goggled at it. 'Stay sexy- Riku'. What was Riku trying to play at? Did he flirt with anything that had a pulse? No... remembering how he had practically ignored the girls, Sora realised he had only flirted with him.  
  
Confused, Sora covered his arm up once more and decided to go to sleep, this time with a pout fixed on his face. After ten minutes of pouting himself to sleep, he finally drifted off into dreaming once more.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Ok, well I was thinking of doing a Sora dream but I wasn't exactly sure what it would be like... I mean, obviously it would involve Riku and be all confusing for Sora since that's what Sora does, he gets confused, but... yeah, I still wanna be original heh.  
  
I was pretty happy with what those who reviewed said, and PLEASE if you read my fic, review, even if all you're saying is "good job" or "I didn't like this" coz... well I just want to know if there's many people who want to read is all.  
  
Thank you my dears! Oh, and by the way, I was never going to continue with 'My Angel' again, but I'm starting to have second thoughts now... I looked back and it really isn't quite as bad as I thought it was, and it's totally stupid if I end it there because there are a lot of things that have gone unexplained... so yeah, I will continue that. If there's anyone here who's read it. Yes. Ok, cya next time!!!  
  
xoxo Eva McBeava 


	3. The Game Starts

Here I am. Once more! Well, I assure you I will be back many a time after that, but... yes. *cough*  
  
As always, thanks to those who reviewed...  
  
camigirl4k3- FAVOURITES LIST?! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! ^____^ oh thank you, I love it when I get on someone's fave list... though it's probably no big deal for others U_U ehrm yes... I know, Riku and Sora at Riku's place together... *sigh* how exciting! Please keep reading!  
  
Muffy- Yeah I don't really like Kairi coz she's always the one who comes between the boys... and yeah, Selphie's cool! Tidus and Wakka will definitely come into the story sooner or later. Yeah, I've always thought Sephy and Ri are related, so I just might make Sephy his daddy! Yes... I may have emphasized the whole giggling girlies thing but it has to be that way lol and they'll get over the whole Riku thing once they find out he's gay, HA! That's true, Riku's mom is gonna act like Sora's own mommy during the stay, which is very cute. Riku's charm is gonna come out MAJORLY in the further chaps! Thanks for the long review!!!  
  
Promise- Do you know that the praise you gave me just then was the most wonderful review I think I've ever received? Wow, thank you so much for saying those things, I get so worried that I think I might suck and then I get reviews like yours and I feel so wonderful! Thank you, I highly anticipate more sweet reviews from you!!!  
  
Uzumaki-sama- Phew, good to know you've made your decision- and you like it! ^_^ I hoped the 2nd chapter would have an effect somewhere along those lines. Hooked, I love it when people use that word... just never thought someone would say they were hooked on anything I wrote o_O Riku's mom's more like Sora than Riku, which is unusual but... well, I'm nothing like my mom, so who said that was unrealistic eh? Thanks for reviewing!!!  
  
Sora Otaku- OH MY GOD! Where the heck have you been missy? I swear, I've been sitting here with my head down going "Why oh why has she abandoned me?" and here you are! It's great to have you back my dear, I love it when old reviewers come back to me, it means a lot to me! *eyes tear up* Anyway, I hope you come back for more next time! Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Thanks also to- Lizzie, Raven's Light, fellow reader, CLOud for being so darn nice to me and reviewing at all!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, duh! I wouldn't waste my time writing fan fiction if I did!  
  
Well yes... Here y'all go, I'm trying my best to make it good *twiddles thumbs nervously*  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Riku awoke the next morning to find himself surrounded in half-light that was streaming through his window. He had always been an early riser, finding it easy to get up in the mornings. This was probably due to the fact that he had grown up with his mother getting up early and taking him to work ever since he had been a small child. In the next room, he could hear the unmistakable rustle of his mother getting ready. Deciding it was time to get up, Riku slid out of bed and re-made it so that it looked totally spotless. His room looked like that of an adult's, his furniture all matching, dark wooden pieces with intricate carvings, just screaming sophistication. He had a large TV beyond the foot of his bed and a stereo system on a specially designed dressing table, beside a mirror and above several drawers full of masses of neatly folded clothes. It was adorned with simple neutral yet bold colours of whites, creams, blacks and browns, creating a professional sort of coordination. Nodding to himself at his neat bed, he walked out his door and shut it quietly behind him. He silently trailed down the stairs and spotted his mother in amongst her mess of papers.  
  
"So, when we leaving?" he said, startling his mother and making pivot on the balls of her feet to face him, clutching a piece of paper. Her face instantly warmed when she saw Riku and her stance relaxed.  
  
"Don't do that hon," she sighed playfully, "When you're ready we can leave, I'm sure they're gonna want me to do something extra! Oh, and I'm sure Sora would love to see you as soon as possible."  
  
Riku nodded and turned back to go up and take a shower. Though he would never admit nor show it, he was excitedly anticipating his next meet with the angelic brunet. Removing his clothes and tossing them aside, he turned the taps on and jumped into the shower. After a hurried bout of washing, Riku got out of the shower and dried himself. 'What to wear...' he thought as he stepped out into his room and opened his large wardrobe, tapping his bottom lip in thought. Shaking his head to free himself from worrying, he frowned. 'Come on Riku, you don't worry about what to wear, you're Riku, not some teenage girl trying to impress a date,' he thought, retrieving whatever clothes were in front of him in spite of his foolishness. These just happened to be one of his many pairs of jeans and a simple black shirt, which made him look even more mature than his original nature and look held. He couldn't help smiling as he admired his own reflection in the mirror, knowing he looked doubly as good as he had yesterday. That would mean Sora would be shocked and even more bumbling than then. Riku smiled maliciously at the thought and swivelled around happily to walk out of his room. He was ready to visit the latest player in his amusing little game.  
  
Riku didn't often get the chance to play with those of the same sex, because he had always tried not to make his "sexual preferences" known to the public. It wasn't that he cared at all about what the people around him thought- there were many openly gay people in Shazahri who were totally socially accepted- but his games would be wasted on the girls of his town if they knew he was batting for the other team, so to speak. Well, considering it was just him and Sora in the little hospital, and shortly his own house, he was free to act how he pleased. His mother knew he was gay, because she had her ways in finding out things- who could resist those pleading, bright eyes of hers? Not even Riku had surpassed her watchful eye and sweet face. She was good at keeping secrets though, and that was why his father had never known about this particular fact. Something Riku planned to keep from him for as long as he could, not that it would be hard. He wouldn't be surprised if he didn't notice him getting up on the table and screwing some random boy right in front of his eyes- he would do exactly what he did any time he spent time with them, just look right past Riku, smiling, and shifting his eyes right back to his newspaper or his prized beauty- his wife.  
  
Riku's parents were both creatures who, like him, resembled some sort of gods. His father had given him his silver hair and milky complexion, not to mention a certain masculinity that just emitted from the both of them, and his mother had given him his startlingly bright aquamarine eyes, while his father had bright icy blue ones, and her amazing smile, though their personalities made different uses of them.  
  
Riku trudged down the stairs, his fingers trailing along the banister. He felt like running down and thumping to the ground, pulling his mother out to the car with him, but being Riku, he coolly landed at the bottom after taking his time walking down.  
  
"Well, I guess I'm ready if you want to go," he hinted at his mother who had seemingly not even noticed his arrival downstairs.  
  
"Ok, you go out to the car then and I'll come right out," she mumbled into her paperwork, pointing to the keys that were currently residing on the table beside her. He walked over to the table and picked them up, jangling them swiftly, before moving out to the already open door, of which had a beautiful day's light now streaming through it. He unlocked the passenger side and slid himself snugly into the seat, turning the key so he could turn on the radio. A voice emitted from the speakers of the car, telling Riku that which he already knew, that the weather was perfect. Turning off the radio, he turned to see if his mother was coming. There she was, bustling through the door with her bag swinging off her shoulder.  
  
"Okay," she smiled as she flopped into the driver's seat and turned the key further to start to car, "we're off!"  
  
"Is Sora coming with us when we leave?" Riku blurted out, finally having asked the question he so badly wanted to know.  
  
Smiling, his mother answered, "Yes, I think that's exactly what's going to happen."  
  
Content with that answer, Riku fixed his attention back on the passing scenery outside his window, smirking evilly at any girl who just happened to be in his vision. After what seemed like eternity to Riku, they arrived at the hospital car park and both hurried out, setting off for the foyer.  
  
"Hey Rama! Any news?" grinned Nisha as she skipped over to the young girl who smiled back and began talking about what was going on around the hospital. Riku was getting bored now and wanted to go and visit Sora. He approached his mother and began to tap at the desk so as to hint at his boredom. Noting the boy's obvious discomfort, she rolled her eyes and told the girl she would "be right back", poking Riku's back before walking off to the hospital rooms.  
  
"You little brat," pouted Nisha teasingly as they walked alongside each other. Riku grinned widely and looked at her wickedly, chuckling quietly. Soon they had halted at the door that Riku had first entered yesterday when he met his new 'friend'. Full of confidence, he stepped forward and turned the doorknob, swinging it open fully. Turning back to his mother, he waved her off with his hand, still wearing his triumphant grin. Shaking her head, she smiled back and left the room.  
  
Riku shut the door quietly and trekked over to the once-more sleeping figure in the flimsy hospital bed. The scruffy hair was visible on the pillow, and as he approached the figure further, he saw the peaceful angel face. Sora's hand was resting downwards beside his side-turned face and it was flinching every time he breathed out. Although Riku thought this was overly adorable, he couldn't fight his urge to wake him with a little bit of fun. Leaning down beside his face, Riku brushed his hand on Sora's gently, feeling it shudder beneath his touch. His face stirred and fixed into a troubled expression, his bottom lip, of course, thrust into a pout. Knowing that he was on the verge of waking, Riku moved his mouth to Sora's neck and pressed his lips gently to the sensitive flesh, in an affectionate gesture that was somewhere half way between a kiss and a nuzzle. He could sense Sora's discomfort and nudged his neck forcefully before quickly raising himself just in time to see Sora's eyes flutter open.  
  
"Woah!" yelled Sora, just before sitting up abruptly as he had the day before. Riku found himself relieved that he had stood up fully instead of leaning over Sora like he had then. He rubbed his eyes and gave Riku a sulky glare before stifling, and eventually giving into, a wide yawn.  
  
"Hey honey bun," purred Riku mockingly. Sora scoffed and his face softened before he flashed Riku a sleepy grin.  
  
"You sure are here early," he yawned.  
  
"Yeah, my mom had to get here early, she couldn't wait to get here."  
  
Riku rolled his eyes and sat down gently on Sora's bed, his body brushing against Sora's. A certain rush went through him that he didn't usually get when he was playing his games...  
  
"So... What you doing today?" asked Sora, somewhat awkwardly.  
  
"I dunno, what you wanna do? My house isn't very interesting or anything..."  
  
"I'm staying with you... today?" asked Sora with awe.  
  
Riku felt his heart sink again as his game was interrupted with emotion. 'Stupid feelings.'  
  
"Of course you are," he answered, cocking an eyebrow, "Didn't I promise I'd take you back to my place today?"  
  
"Oh, y-yeah... I just, didn't know if you were humouring me or something," he laughed sheepishly.  
  
"Have a little faith in me Sora, you can trust me," said Riku quietly, fixing Sora with a look so intense that he wasn't sure it was Riku looking at him, because as soon as he had blinked, Riku was back to his seductive self.  
  
"And anyway, if you can't trust the boy who's keeping you company despite the fact that he just met you yesterday, especially in a world so deprived of caring people, who can you trust?" he finished softly with a wide-stretched grin.  
  
Sora shrugged innocently, his eyes squinted slightly in thought.  
  
"I dunno... You?" he giggled.  
  
"Exactly," finished Riku, standing up and ruffling his hair as though he were a child, "I think I'd better go get mom so she can take us back to my place, ok? Pack your things."  
  
"I don't have any things..." mumbled Sora. Riku cringed at the statement, realising his clothes had probably been ruined in the accident, and he sure wasn't going to bring him home in a hospital gown.  
  
"Right, right... Well, you can slip on something of mine if you want, I'll get mom to drive me down."  
  
"Thanks. Hey... Riku?"  
  
"Mmm?"  
  
"Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked timidly, cocking his head to the side in question.  
  
Riku opened his mouth to answer, but soon realised he in fact didn't know the answer to the question at all. Turning his charm back on, he answered Sora with a simple question, that was rather like a statement to end the matter.  
  
"Well, why not?" he said breathily, winking gently before opening and slipping out the door.  
  
Before moving, Riku stopped and closed his eyes briefly. What was going on? This was a one-sided game, and he was beginning to think Sora stood a chance in it. He kept getting weird feelings... Weird feelings he wasn't supposed to get. Riku's limitation of feeling was physical attraction, on which he rarely acted. This boy, this simple, innocent boy, he didn't have the potential to make Riku lose at his own game... he couldn't...  
  
"What you doin' there?" rang out a voice from somewhere beyond the blackness of Riku's eyelids. Opening one eye suspiciously, he saw it was his mother, hands on hips, looking at him like he was some sort of weirdo. He opened both of his eyes, relieved that it was only her.  
  
"Oh, hi. I was just coming to look for you. Sora's got no clothes, we should really drive back home so I can grab him something to wear when he comes back..."  
  
"That's cool, we can go now! My shift doesn't start for about an hour and there's a couple people in... I have some work to do, but it can wait. Sora's more important!"  
  
"Right," mumbled Riku as he followed Nisha through the hall and out past the foyer, where she waved goodbye to Rama, and out into the carpark.  
  
"So what's up?" asked his mother expectantly.  
  
"What do you mean?" he replied flatly, knowing exactly what she was talking about.  
  
"Honey, you're a smooth operator, I don't think I've ever seen you jaded or faltered at all... and that was weird! Are you sick? Or tired maybe... No, you've been tired before..."  
  
"Mom, there is nothing wrong, I'm not tired or sick, or jaded, faltered or any of that! I'm just normal... I still have no idea what you're talking about!" he finished exasperatedly, hurrying ahead and opening the car door to get in.  
  
"Ok," she sighed back. If he didn't want to tell her, it was his choice... She was going to find out sometime anyway, that was her job!  
  
Riku was silent for the whole car ride home, almost afraid of giving something away to Nisha. Really, when she wanted to know something, she always found out in the end... though Riku wasn't exactly sure what was going on himself, so would she be able to then? Probably, knowing her.  
  
When they arrived back at their house, Riku rushed ahead of her once more, entering the house. This time it wasn't because he was trying to avoid her- he just wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible so he could return things to normal and keep playing with Sora. Once he brought him to his house, things would be much more fun.  
  
Riku rushed up the stairs and pushed open one of his drawers, pulling out a pair of jeans that he thought would look good on Sora. He slammed it shut and opened another drawer, pulling out a plain top for Sora. 'Yep, that'll do,' he thought with a shrug, stuffing them into a shopping bag. He trailed down the stairs and landed at the bottom gracefully, facing his mother who was standing waiting for him.  
  
"K, you got everything?" she smiled.  
  
"Uhuh," he grunted back simply.  
  
Sighing once more, Nisha went outside and locked the door behind Riku. He was acting very suspicious, so... Well, so not Riku! They drove back to the hospital in silence, save Riku's tapping to the beat of the song on the radio and Nisha's wailing singing.  
  
When they arrived, Riku had almost forgotten about his mother's suspicions, and was acting more or less normal again. He stepped out of the car and walked casually to the hospital behind her. He couldn't wait to get back to Sora and take him back to his house! He had never enjoyed a game so much as he did the one he had started with Sora. He had never been so free to have a one on one game like this one.  
  
He rushed into the hospital as quickly as possible for someone who was trying to look cool, calm and collected, and smiled back at Nisha in goodbye. Trailing along the corridor, he spied the now-familiar number on Sora's door and slowly turned the doorknob, nervousness now clutching his stomach like never before.  
  
This time, Sora was wide awake, sitting up and humming to himself. Riku's cocky nature once more returned to him when he saw the innocence of the boy- he didn't know how to win in this game! Riku was going to win after all.  
  
Sora's face lit up into a broad grin when he saw Riku entered the room with the bag dangling from his arm. He kicked the door shut behind him effortlessly and tossed the bag into Sora's lap.  
  
"Here's some stuff I thought might look good on you," he smirked, moving beside Sora's bed. Sora pulled out the clothes carefully, seemingly awestruck at the pieces. Riku wondered what was so amazing about a few items of clothing, as Sora turned to him uneasily.  
  
"Riku, I don't wanna ruin them..." he explained apprehensively.  
  
"Um... I wasn't really worried that you would Sora," replied Riku, trying to hide his disbelief. What was Sora expecting him to bring, rags?  
  
"It's just... they're really nice. Don't you have anything les... nice? I mean, I would hate to be responsible for getting something on them or anything like that."  
  
"You don't like my clothes Sora?" smiled Riku sceptically, though teasingly.  
  
"NO, no, they're so nice, I like them a lot! It's just... Well, are you sure you want someone like me to wear your good clothes?"  
  
"Someone like you? What is that supposed to mean?" Riku was serious now. Someone like Sora? Was this how he had been brought up, to think he was on a lower standard than everyone else?  
  
"Oh, well at home nobody really talks to me. I mean, not like a friend or anything... I think it's because they have more money than me... well, I always thought so anyway... And I didn't really think people like me were supposed to wear clothes like this..."  
  
Riku couldn't believe that Sora was so naïve, lacked knowledge of real importance, all because his father had never explained to him. That and the people who had always been too caught up in their own lives to care about someone like Sora.  
  
"Well apparently the people at home have their priorities screwed up," frowned Riku, thinking aloud. Sora laughed meekly, biting his lip and blinking teary eyes at Riku.  
  
"Oh, well... Thanks. I'm sorta... what's the word? Ignorant?"  
  
"No, ignorant's the word for stupid people who don't know something... You're just uninformed," Riku smiled, ruffling Sora's hair.  
  
"Oh... Well, ok."  
  
Riku sat beside Sora's bed silently for a few minutes before Sora cleared his throat, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him raising his face to Sora.  
  
"I don't mean to be ungrateful or anything, but would you mind leaving while I change?" laughed Sora.  
  
Embarrassedly, Riku rose up, trying to think of something to say that would excuse his ambiguity. Smiling seductively, he flicked his tongue out briefly over his top lip.  
  
"Damn, and I thought you were going to let me stay for a while there," he concluded huskily before walking out the door, smiling smugly to himself.  
  
"What are you so happy about Mister smiley?" came a suspiciously mocking voice, that could be none other but his mother.  
  
"He's funny," replied Riku vaguely as he leaned against the wall beside the doorframe. His mother continued to look at him sceptically, though it seemed that Riku either didn't notice or was ignoring her impeccably. Riku knocked on the door after a few minutes.  
  
"Sora, are you decent?" he mused, leaning his forehead against the door.  
  
"In a second... Yeah!" came a muffled reply.  
  
Riku opened the door and stepped inside the room, his smiled still freshly planted on his face. Now that Sora was out of the hospital bed, which ultimately made him look more feeble, and generally younger in that sense, he appeared much more physically mature, and he suited Riku's plain yet tasteful clothes more than he had ever imagined. However, his baby face remained unchanged and was all Riku could identify him by, excluding his dishevelled hair. Then came the adorable grin. 'Yep, that's Sora,' thought Riku.  
  
"Wow, you look really good," exclaimed Riku, sounding a little more awestruck than he would have liked. His comment resulted in a deep blush from Sora, and with that, his confidence was back on track.  
  
"Heh... I dunno, these kind of clothes look better on you," he mumbled timidly, walking towards Riku.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," laughed Sora with a wink, "but either way, we should get out of here. I spend too much time in this place as it is!" he finished, tugging at Sora's hand and pulling him out of the room. Sora's legs fumbled behind Riku who was smiling and walking hurriedly out of the hospital. Nisha followed them closely behind, farewelling everyone as she went along.  
  
Riku opened the door for Sora, who was so clueless towards other people's manners that Riku had to push him inside the car. Moving to the other side, Riku hopped in, smirking at Sora.  
  
Getting impatient, Riku called to Nisha who was conversing one of the nurses who had just arrived at work.  
  
"Ok, well Riku wants me to hurry up, and I probably should too! We're taking home Sora, you know, the boy who came in yesterday? Yes, that's Sora! He's coming to stay with us and-"  
  
"MOM!"  
  
"Well, I should really go, I'll be back in a while, bubye!"  
  
Nisha opened the door and got in the car, throwing Riku an exasperated look before starting up the car and driving out into the street.  
  
"You're so impatient, baby! Definitely got that one from you're daddy," she giggled, shaking her head. Riku let a bitter expression pass over his face but quickly let it pass as he looked at Sora and tried to smile at him. At being smiled at like that, like someone was trying for him, not looking right through him, treating him like an equal, like... like a friend.  
  
Both of the boys were snapped out of their thoughts (as had been happening so often lately) by the sudden stop of the engine and the jangle of the keys being withdrawn from the car.  
  
"Ok boys, in you go," said Nisha, opening the door for Sora while Riku opened his own door unconsciously, his mind still dwelling on the thoughts that were racing through his confused mind.  
  
"Here's the key honey," she continued hastily, stretching out her hand with a house key in it. Riku looked at her hand as if she were crazy then back at her face.  
  
"Er... I have my own," he said, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"Right... Ok, I'll see you tonight! I'll pick up some nice things to cook you a super dinner," she winked before getting in the car and heading back to the hospital.  
  
Riku tugged at Sora's hand again and pulled him to the door, which Riku swiftly unlocked and opened with his free hand. Sora was gawking at the house, no doubt astounded by it's size and modern style. Normally it irritated Riku when people treated his house and possessions like some sort of amazing artefacts, just because the were expensive, because he was smart enough to know that they were just things, but the way Sora was doing it was simply adorable, innocent in it's way. He had obviously never seen anything near to like this and Riku knew he probably didn't even realise the look that had overcame his face.  
  
Riku guided an almost totally limp Sora inside his house and let go of his hand. Sora spun around slowly, taking in his surroundings with big, wandering eyes.  
  
"Well... I want to show you my room now, since that's where you'll be sleeping..." said Riku with a cheeky grin implanted on his face.  
  
Sora turned to Riku, slowly coming out of his astounded daze and gave a sheepish laugh and a small nod, his eyes wandering further to see where his room could possibly be. It could be anywhere; Sora didn't think he'd ever been in a house that huge!  
  
Riku jolted his head to the side in a signal to follow him as he walked towards the stairs, ascending them while looking back at Sora who was admiring the railing. There was no other way to explain it- the boy just made him melt inside! When they arrived at Riku's bedroom door, Sora had gotten over the extravagance of the house slightly and was walking expectantly beside Riku.  
  
"Well I think we should go shopping before it gets late," said Riku casually before kicking open the door and receiving a small squeak from the boy beside him, "since you have no pyjamas or clothes or anything."  
  
"Oh... Well I really hate to say so, but I kind of have no money," mumbled Sora with his face down. Riku laughed softly, patting Sora's shoulder as if he were an inexperienced child. 'Hm... I guess he sort of is,' thought Riku.  
  
"Don't be stupid Sora, I have more money than I know what to do with," laughed Riku, with a trademark wink.  
  
"Oh, no! You shouldn't have to pay for me, you're already feeding me and giving me somewhere to sleep," said Sora hurriedly, a stern look fixed on his face.  
  
"Um... What do you say, you can pay me back when you're a rich superstar?" smirked Riku, nudging Sora in the ribs.  
  
"Well... yeah, that shouldn't be too far off," beamed Sora, giving in.  
  
"Great! Well it's one o'clock now," started Riku, looking at his watch, "so do you want to get started?"  
  
"Now? Shopping? Just like that? But we just got here," gawked Sora sulkily, obviously not wanting to leave what was to him a palace. Riku rolled his eyes and pulled Sora out of the house by his shirt collar, grabbing his wallet before slamming the door behind them.  
  
"Ow! Riku, you're ruining your top!" pouted Sora, pushing him off.  
  
"Never mind," shrugged Riku, "I've got another one!"  
  
"Oh... heh. Ok, so where we going?"  
  
"Hmmm... over there!" yelled Riku, pointing along the path and sprinting off, glancing back behind him at a wide-eyed Sora.  
  
"Not fair!" yelled Sora after him, grinning and running behind him.  
  
After a few minutes of racing each other along the path, Riku stopped, laughing. Sora skidded to a halt beside him panting, and shot him a glare.  
  
"Here we are Sora," smiled Riku, raising his hand in a gesture to display the many shops squashed together, seemingly going on forever.  
  
"Woah..." gasped Sora, his eyes widening with amazement for what was definitely not the first time that day.  
  
Riku looked at an unaware Sora, smiling at his sweetness. This was going to be more fun than he had bargained for.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Sorry if this chap was sort of... Well, to put it simply, crap! I'll try and make it a little cute next time, but I can't promise anything! *dodges hoards of shoes being thrown* SORRY!  
  
Anywho, keep reviewing coz it keeps me going, and sorry for taking so long to update! I've been busy and lacking in inspiration lately so that's just me... and for those who have read My Angel, I've started chapter 8! That's also been hard because of my lack of inspiration, so sorry again! Well yes, REVIEW EVERYONE!!!  
  
xoxo Eva McBeava 


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